Former coach of Cherkasy LNZ Oleg Dulub recalled the matches of his former team against Kyiv’s «Dynamo» in the Ukrainian championship last season (2:4, 1:1).
— After the winter break, LNZ looked not very confident. What was the reason for that?
— There was a disbalance in the atmosphere in the locker room, as we had been on training camps for three months, January-February-March, and returned home just a day before the match with «Mynai». Although I asked our directors to let us come back at least three days earlier. Three months away from family is very difficult.
Based on this, we had a meeting with the management, where I was asked when the team would be ready. I replied that it would be approximately in the sixth week. And that’s how it turned out. In the match against «Dynamo» we drew, and it gave us a boost. We saw that our team was playing at different speeds. After that, we started to earn points steadily.
— You managed to take points from «Dynamo», but lost twice to «Shakhtar» with devastating scores of 0:3. Does that mean it was easier for you to play against the Kyivans than against the miners?
— No. Every match has its own story. In the game against «Dynamo», where we lost 2:4, it was my mistake. It’s like in chess — when the position is equal, you should play for a draw, but I tried to win. We were losing 0:1, and we had three attacking players (Tyshchenko, Pryadun, and Shestakov) standing by the sidelines, and at that moment, Vitaliy Boyko equalized from a penalty. I should have recalled them, looked at where the game was going, and then reacted to the situation.
The introduction of three new players at once can lead to a disbalance of connections and interactions between players in a specific game. I took a risk, and we lost. We shouldn’t have played against «Dynamo» at that moment in such a free-flowing style. In my opinion, «Dynamo» under Luchesku was the best team in Ukraine for establishing attacking play in the upper third of the field. Buyalsky, Yarmolenko, Vanat, Voloshin were executing combinations like in futsal. We needed to prevent them from doing that.
Another significant negative was the early goal by Brazhko from long distance. This goal affected our game plan. Moreover, we were not playing in an optimal lineup, so we had to send Selin to the defensive zone. A tragic event happened to one of our players, too.
— What happened?
— A day or two before the game, Vitaliy Boyko’s father passed away. He came from the funeral an hour before the match against «Dynamo», so he didn’t start. I asked, «Can you come on as a substitute?». He replied, «Yes, I can». Vitaliy came on and then scored from the penalty spot. At that moment, he became a real captain for me, someone who could lead the team.
The game against «Dynamo» showed that our players have potential. After the match, there was a meeting with the management, where I said: «Even with these players, we will achieve our task of staying in the league and will score around 35-40 points». But the management still decided to radically change the team.
Andrii Piskun